If you are looking to improve your body composition, forget random workouts. Fat loss requires consistency, intensity, and a targeted plan built around movement and nutrition.
While nutrition is the biggest driver of weight loss, exercise plays a big role in maintaining lean muscle while burning fat. Sustainable lifestyle changes can help you lose weight effectively.
Fat loss isn’t necessarily about doing more exercise and eating less, it’s about doing finding the right balance.
In this blog, we’ll focus on how to train smarter and rev up your metabolism through movement, with a few key nutrition strategies to support the process.
Train to Build Muscle, Not Just to Burn Calories
Effective fat loss requires following a training plan, not just effort.
Your metabolism isn’t fixed – it responds to what you do. Strength training is the most effective long-term strategy to raise your resting metabolic rate.
Why? Because muscle tissue burns more energy than fat, even at rest.
Aim for:
- 3 strength sessions/week
- Focus on compound exercises (squats, lunges, rows, presses)
- Don’t be afraid to lift heavy. Progressive overload is key to muscle growth.
For beginners, Shailen Vandeyar, cycling coach & CEO of Biking Bro recommends these following exercises:
- Bodyweight Squats: 3 sets of 12-15 reps.
- Push-Ups: Start with modified push-ups if needed, aiming for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
- Walking Lunges: 3 sets of 10 reps per leg.
- Plank: Hold for 20-30 seconds, repeat for 3 sets.
- Light Dumbbell Rows: 3 sets of 10-12 reps, using light weights (5-8 lbs).
- Cardio: Walking briskly for 20-30 minutes, 3-4 days a week.
Cardio for Fat Loss
Yes, cardio burns calories. But it’s most effective when combined with strength training.
Use cardio as a tool to:
- Increase overall energy expenditure
- Support cardiovascular health
- Improve endurance and recovery
Beginners should start with brisk walking, cycling, or other low intensity cardio. And then you can build up to moderate-to-intense sessions like jogging, spinning, or intervals such as HIIT (high intensity interval training).
HIIT involves short bursts of maximum effort (90% of your maximum heart rate) followed by periods of active rest (until the heart rate returns to 60%). It’s time-efficient for when you’re short on time, and metabolically demanding.
HIIT temporarily spikes your metabolic rate, helps increase fat burning the hours after, and improves both cardio fitness and muscular endurance.
HIIT is intense and requires a greater degree of focus. If you’re a beginner, build a base of aerobic fitness and joint strength first.
Don’t let cardio displace the kind of training that actually builds metabolic tissue (muscle).
You can’t burn belly fat by only doing crunches.
When you exercise, your body uses fat from all across the body as fuel. You can’t choose where you lose body fat.
Instead, you can train to improve your body composition over time.
Which Heart Rate Zone is Most Important for Fat Loss?
Of the 5 heart rate (HR) zones, zone 2 is the fat-burning HR zone, where your body burns more fat than carbs for energy. Examples are low-impact steady-state activities (incline walks, stair masters) where you maintain at 60-70% of your HR max.
However, a calorie deficit is the main driver of weight loss.
The low intensity HR zone may not be the most time-efficient when the goal is to burn the most calories in the same amount of time.
With a calorie deficit through diet and exercise, focus on including a variety of exercises in different HR zones in your fitness plan to maximize the benefits and prevent plateaus.
In the end, consistency is what gets you long-term results. Think about what is sustainable and healthy for you so you can prevent burnout and maintain your weight loss.
Movement Outside the Gym Matters
Daily light activity (walking, stretching, mobility work) supports fat loss by increasing non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Think of it as the background calorie burn from everyday movement.
NEAT can account for 15-50% of your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), compared to exercise which contributes 15-30%.
Vandeyar recommends taking “at least 1-2 full rest days per week with light walking and stretching”.
Additionally, you should plan rest days for specific muscle groups to allow time for optimal muscle repair and growth. Your lower body needs 48-72 hours of recovery time, compared to 24 h or less for your upper body.
Sleep and Recovery can Foster Better Results
Poor sleep disrupts hormones that regulate hunger and fat storage – like leptin and ghrelin – and can reduce the quality of your workouts.
Sleeping well may influence you to engage in higher amounts of physical activity, which has been shown to increase metabolism.
Less sleep = less recovery = slower fat loss.
Aim for 7-9 hours/night of sleep, with regular sleep/wake times. Your body builds muscle during recovery, not during the workout itself.
More is not always better when it comes to workouts – quality sleep and rest days are equally important.
A Diet That Supports Weight Loss
Nutrition for fat loss doesn’t have to be complicated. When done right, it can support your metabolism and health.
1. Prioritize protein
Protein supports muscle repair and slightly raises the energy cost of digestion (TEF – thermic effect of food).
Your body uses more energy to break down protein than carbs or fats. Foods like eggs, legumes, and lean meats help keep you full while providing nutrients for metabolic function.
Aim for 1.2–2.0 g protein/kg body weight/day, depending on your activity level and goals.
2. Choose balanced meals
Focus on planning meals that are balanced with protein, fiber, healthy fats, and whole grains.
Whole grains like quinoa, oats, and brown rice provide sustained energy and require more energy to digest than refined grains.
Incorporating a variety of foods will help nourish your body and support weight management without the need for constant calorie restriction.
Whether you want to lose weight or do a body recomposition, a dietitian can accurately and holistically assess your needs and develop customized menus for your goals, as well as provide accountability in your health journey.
3. Stay hydrated
Hydration is important for bodily functions and helps prevent fatigue.
Dehydration leads to reduced blood volume and oxygen transport across your body, which causes fatigue. This can negatively affect the quality of your training as well as recovery.
You may also be less tempted to reach for sweetened beverages that contribute to excess calorie intake. A helpful way to stay hydrated is to drink water more consistently throughout the day, rather than a lot at once.
The amount of fluid you need is dependent on several factors, including your gender, activity level, climate and what you eat. The general recommendation is to aim for at least 9 to 10.5 cups of fluids per day.
4. Don’t cut too many calories
A common mistake I see is that people want to lose weight fast, so they eat as little as they can, and eat lots of vegetables to “fill them up” – i.e. volume eating.
Extreme calorie restriction slows down your metabolism over time, and is harmful to health when they go below our basal metabolic rate (BMR) – calories your body needs just to stay alive.
A modest calorie deficit (300-750 calories less than your TDEE – online BMR and TDEE calculators here and here for rough estimates), supported by training, is more sustainable and protects lean mass.
What works for one person might not work for another, even when they have the same height and weight.
For women, female hormones are more sensitive to decrease in energy intake and increase in physical activity. Check in with factors such as sleep quality and your menstrual cycles to determine whether you need to make adjustments to your routine.
Aim for 1-2lb weight loss per week. Start slow, and see how your body responds to your calorie intake, and adjust from there.
Summary
Train for strength, and eat for performance and recovery.
For sustainable weight loss, prioritize a combination of consistent daily activities (such as increasing daily steps), making healthier food choices, and strength/resistance training exercises.
Need help translating this into a tailored workout and nutrition strategy?
Book a session with one of our registered dietitians to get started. A weight management dietitian can help you achieve your weight loss goals for good.
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